Machine for making sanitary napkins



H. w. GREEN.v MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

APPLICATION FILED IA'N. I7. 1921.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922;

A TTORNEY 1,408,586., Patented Mar. 7,1922/ 8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1N VEN TOR.

TTURNEY H. VV.v GREEN.

IVIACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

APPLICAIION FILED IAN.17.I921.

, B'SHEETs-.SHEET 3.

JA TTORNEYS.

. H. w. GREEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

, APPLICATION FILED IAN. I7, 1921. l 1308,58@ *V Patented 1131111922;

8 SHEETSSHEET 4.

lrI

IGT l5 175 I9 ,73 i 1&9

' W0 mm usf, |99 2.o@ L52. 2 0@ 2.09 2.0\ I9 75/4. v AINVENTOR.

A TTORNEY H. w. GREEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

I APPLxc/u'louA EILED J.`AN.17..1,921.. 1,408,586. Batented Mar. 7,1922,

SHEETS-SHEET 5.

wsa.

INVENTR.

BY M

ATTORNEY II. W. GREEN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

a SHEETS-SHEET e.

IOA-

IZI

APPLICATION FILED JAN.17| 1921. "1,408,586, Patented Mar. 7,1922.

wf@ f 5 IN1/EN TOR.

Bymd' 6W ATTORNEY y H. W. GREEN. MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINSlAPPLICAIION FILED IAN. I7. I92I.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

o u w M l C al W 1 w 8 Iy 5 WM mi: w 2 m. I o 0 Z W m 9.5 Z .w ro c mioh f. L W 1r 9 lo @Io 9 1N VEN TOR. /Ziwa 7n ww BY f ATTORNEY H. W.GREEN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17| 1921.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

o? I?? ma o I N VEN TOR.

,6W A TTORNEYS.

HOWARD `W. ,GrrRIE'IIQV 0F VERSAILLES, CO

KNI'ITING UOMPAINTY A COR NNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO- WILLIIVLANTC PORATIONOF CONNECTICUT. Y

MACHINE FOR MAKING SANITARY NPKINS.

Lacasse.

material, and leaving its unfilled ends Itol serve as attachingportions.

The essential objects of my invent1on are to contemporaneously fabricateand form the casing around the absorbent material; to employ thefabricating means itself to enclose the absorbent material; to avoidinjury to the casing resultant from the preliminary stretching of thecasing required where the absorbent material is introduced into apreviously prepared casing; to insure a severing of the casing at pointsexactly midway of the absorbent charges; to aord en accurate and certaincontrol of the intermittently rotating feed rolls; .to facilitate theintroduction ofthe length vof absorbent material nism, and to increasethe speed and lessen the. cost of production. @y

'llo the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends such parts andin such combinations vof parts-as fall within the scope ofthe Vappendedclaims. y

In thel accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification,and which illustrate the principles of this invention,-

and the best mode now known to me of applying those principles;`

Flgure 1 is a front elevation of a machine.'

embodying my invention,

Figures 2 and 3, side elevations of the same omitting certain parts,v l'v V y' Figure 4, a rear elevation ofv a portion of the same partly intransverse ksection,

Figures 5 ando, sections of the lower and upper portions of the machine'respectively on lines 5-5 and 6`-6 of Figure 1, omitting certain parts,v

igure 7, an enlarged'sectien en line 7-7' 0f Figur@ Specification ofLetters I'ateiit.

.application led January 17, 1921.

United States, residing at ,to the operating mecha-I nel 36. Within themy invention consists in y.the needles ,to

, central *Arms 52 on the Patented Mar.. 7, 1922. serial no. 437,705..

`Figure 8, a detail of the slide actuating cam,

Figure 9, an enlarged side elevation of the portion of the machinecarrying the 4cam slide mechanism, y

Figure 10, a section on line l0-10 of Figure 1,

Figure 1.1, a bottom plan View of the knife mechanism,

Figure 12, an enlarged frontelevation of the knife mechanism, and

Figure 13, a sectionv of the same on line 13-13 of Figure 12. Y

Like reference characters indicate like parts'throughout the views. i

The frame work of my machine may be of any form best adapted to carrythe operat1ve parts. In the form thereof herein shown it comprises atable 17 carried by supports 18, on a lower bed ory table 19 mounted onlegs 20. Fast to the table 17 are upwardly directed braces 21.

Rotatably mounted in one of the supports 18 and .in a bearing 23 on abracket arm 2,4

ing pulleys 26 and a bevel gear 28 engaging a bevel gear 29 integralwith the base plate 30 of a knitting hea rlhe base plate, which rotatesin a cavity 32 thereto with an interior inclined endless cam chancasingis a-needle cylinder 38 integral with or attached to the vtable forminga central opening '39therein and provided with vertical external groovesv inthe table., has fast the cam ring or `casing v34 providedA 40 inwhich slide reciprocating knitting machine needles 41 of usualconstruction whose butts 42 register loosely in the channel 36. rlherotation of the. casing 34 reciprocates knit successive rows of adepending tubular fabric sheath`37. pon the casing 34 are posts441supporting a plate 45 provided with a opening 46 in lalignment with`the needl'ecylindergto loosely receive a tubular guide 48. The rotatingplate 45, as shown in Figure l, has fast thereto the carrier arms 49 ofspindles 50 for yarn spools 51;

stitches formingV oppositely located upright thread guides 53 forguiding .the yarn 54 from the spools to lateral guide arms fast toltheperiphery of the platej 'Iheneey the yarn strands periphery of the platecarryv passes through the guides 56 fast tothe casing 34 and directingthe strands into the needles 41.

In detail the guide 48 comprises a` rectangular block 59 having acylindrical central bore 60, and fast to which are the upper ends of thebraces 21. lastto the top and bottom of the block respectlvely are aHaring portion 62 and a tube 63. The latter is fixed at its bottom to ablock 65 provided with an internal cylindrical bore 66. The block has atubular portion 68 entending loosely through the opening 46 andfrictionally engaged in this instance by a downwardly tapering removablesleeve 69. lfast to the block 59 are upwardly inclined lateral arms 70in which are journaledthe y shaft 71 of a guide roll 72 having a. lt'shaped peripheryY 73.' Upon one of the braces 21 in alignment with theroll are lateral arrns 75 one of which engages an inclined guide trough76, and the other of which engages the funnel shaped end 77 of thelatter. strip or sliver 79 of cotton or other absorbent material isdrawn from a reel, receptacle, or elsewhere upwardly through the tube77, 76, over roll 72, and thence down wardly lthrough the guide memberThe means for drawing this strip includes an annular toothed wheel ordriving gear 79 fast to the top of the rotating plate 45, and loosearound the portion 68 of the guide 48. The gear 79 meshes with a gear 80fast to a shaft 81 rotatably mounted in bracket arms 82 fast to theblock 65. it gear 83 fast on shaft 81 engages a gear 85 on a vibratoryor resilient vertical shaft 86 journaled near its lower end in a lug orarm 88 on the block 65, and near its upper end in a lug 90 on a slidableplate 91 providedwith spaced oblong slots 93 to loosely receive pins 94in the block 59. The upper portion of the rod 86 is vibrated by thehorizontal reciprocation of the plate 91 on which it is journaled. Uponthe lower portion of the rod is a worm 96, and near the top of the rodare worms 97 and 98. lThe plate 91, as shown in lfigure 7, has a pin 100to which is attached a helical spring 101 whose other end is fast to abracket 102 by a screw 103 attaching the bracket to the block 59. V1`hisspring normally forces the teeth of a worm wheel 104, mounted on. a pin105 in the slide 91, into engagement with the worm 97. On the rear faceof the worm wheel. 104 is an arcuate cam shoulder 107 in slidableengagement with a stud 108 fast to the arm portion 199 of the bracket102. 'lhe rotation of the wheel 104 therefore intermittently withdrawsthe worm 98 from its worm wheel 111 mounted on one, of two shafts 112mounted in the box 59, each carrying a preferably corrugated drawingroll 114. 7lfhe second roll shaft is yieldingly mounted in slots 117.,and its roll is forced against its companion roll by spring 118 andblocks 119. '.lhere is a gear 120 and a crank 121 upon the worm wheelshaft. The worm 96 engages a worm wheel 122 on one of a pair of shafts123 carrying corrugated rolls 124 mounted in the block 65. One of therolls is yfieldingly mounted, being pressed against the other by springs128 in bearing slots 129. rllhere are gears intermeshing 132. on shafts123. The rolls 124 are continuously rotatable since the lower `portionof the rod 86 is not vibratory. Mounted above the latter rolls in theblock 65 are a pair of preferably corrugated relatively yielding drawingor breaking rolls 134 on shafts 135. @ne shaft is pressed by springs 137in slots 138, and the other shaft has a bevel gear 139. A. shaft 141 isjournaled in lugs 142 and 143 on the blocks 65 and 59 respectively, andcarries gears 145 and 146 meshing with the gears 139 'and 120respectively. 1t will be observed that the pairs of drawing or breakingrolls 114, and 134 rotate at a like rate and at the same rate as do thedelivery rolls 124, but intermittently, since both pairs of drawingrolls are subject to the operation of the cam gear 104. When the drawingrolls stop the delivery rolls sever from the strip 79 a length 148.

rllhe operation of the needles 41 is continnous, and their speed is suchrelatively to the delivery rolls 124 that the depth of the casing 37increases at identically the same speed as the strip 79 descends. Thefree end of the strip 79 descends bygravity under control of the feed orsuspension rolls 124 centrally of and through the cylinder 38 and itsneedles 41. During the descent through the cylinder the length 148 issevered and released. Since the speed of the descendingstrip isidentical with the speed of the travel or growth of the sheath 37 issimultaneously knit around the strip, rather than the strip drawn intothe sheath. The use of the needles therefore makes no drawing inmechanisin necessary.

. Enlargements 149 occur at regular intervals in the sheath where thelengths 148 of absorbent material are enclosed and distend the sheath.Slack in the sheath 37 is prevented by take up or guide rolls operatedas follows. t shaft 150 journaled in a bearing 151 on the table 19carries a pulleyl 152 driven through a belt 153 from a pulley 154 onshaft 25. A. gear 156 on shaft 150 en-4 gages a gear 157 on a shaft 158journaled in a bearing 159 and a bracket 160 both mounted on the table.A. worm 162, on the shaft 158 engages a worm gear 163 on the shaft 164of a roll 165 mounted in uprights 167 on the table. A gear 168 on theshaft 164 engages an intermediate gear 169 on a stud 170 fast in oneupright and meshing with a gear 171 mounted in a stud 172 on theupright. it. swinging frame comprises a crosspiece 173 and arms 174pivoted at their upmoesen per ends on pins 175 in the uprights. Joue.

\ naled in the lower ends of the arms is the end attached to uprights.

shaft 176 of aroll 177 and carrying a gear 178 meshing with the gear 171by which it is driven. rlhe roll 177 is drawn towards the roll 165 by ahelical spring 179 .having one the crosspiece 173 and its other end fastto a screw 181 in one of the rl`he described rolls do not draw thesheath but merely guide the same, as the speed of roll 165 is the saineas the speed of fabrication of the needles 41. rllhe roll 177being-yielding admits passage of the en"- largement 149. The sheathpasses downwardly from the` rolls throughl a central opening 182 in thetable 19. l

device lis provided for severing the sheath into individual units ornapkins with the enlargements 149 disposed centrally of each leavingempty end portions to be utilized as attaching strips. llt is thereforenecessary that the sheath should ybe. severed in each instance exactlymidway between each of the two enlargements. effected by controlling theshearing mechanism by the vibration of the roll `177 under the inuenceof the passing enlargement. The shearing mechanism is the following.

An armv183 on a support 18, and an arm 184e on the table, combined witha "plate 185 fast thereto, constitute a depending bracket.` A shaft 186has its ends journaled `in the plate 185 and one support 167, and

carries a gear 187 meshing with the 169 by which the 189 is jourhaled ingear shaft is driven. A shaft the plate185 and a plate 'y 190 on theytable 19, and carries a friction pin 212 in the knife or blade 209. Thelatshaft, and friction gear comprismg a gear 191 loose on the disks 192engaging the gear and fast on the shaft. The latter gear is engaged by agear 19lon the shaft 186. A gear 195 on the shaft 189 engages a gear 196on ashaft 197 mounted near one end in the plate 185. last to thebottomof the tablev 19 is a rectangular frame or bracket comprising aHat bar 199 and supports 200 one of which assists in supporting theshaft 197. 'A bevel gear 201 on the latter engages a bevel gear 202loose on a'shaft 203 journaled at one end in the bar 199, and at itsother end in the table 19'. Fast to the bevel gear is a ratchet wheel205 engaged by a yielding pawl 206l on a disk 207 fast to the sha-ft203. lAlso fast to the shaft 203 is a shearing blade 209. A helicalspring 210 has an end the legs 20, and another end attached to a ter isadapted to shearingly slide along the lower surface of the cooperatingflat bar 199 arranged below the opening 182 and diametric-ally, thereofto receive against its lateral edge the descending sheath 37.

`'llhe blade is periodically released by the following plate 215,lhaving attached to a pin 211 in one ofl the one explained,

held out of operation and mechanism. Fast to the table 19 is the base214 of al depending plate ,215 whose lower edge the blade 209 is adaptedto slidably contact. A lever on latch 217 is pivoted intermediate itslength ,on a pin 218 in the its lower end pressing against the side ofthe knife, and its upper end abutting against a slidable locking rod 220retained by straps 221 against the face of the plate. rll`here are stoppins 223 and 224 for the lever in the plate. r1`he rod 220 is pivoted ba pin 225 to an arm 226 fast to a rock shaft 227 mounted in bearings 228on the table. 1V ast to the rock shaft is an arm 230 in the lower end ofwhich is threaded for adjustment a wire or rod 231 adapted to contactwith a depending finger 233 onan arm 1711. The instant an enlargement onthe casing begins to enter between the rolls 165 and177fthe frame of thelatter roll swings outwardly and operatesy the described mechanism toelevate the rod 220 and vfree the upper part of the latch lever '217.The rod 220 is returned by a spring 235 having oneend attached to thearm 226 and the other end to a screw 237 in the plate 215. The latch 217is returned to original position by a hair spring 240 engaging the pivotand the latch itself release of the latch pin 218 with one 'cndp whichunder .the inuence of .the strong" spring 210, swings with greatvelocity and performs the cutting operation instantaneously bypassingacr'oss the member 199.

Thereafter when the blade ceases to move because of the relaxation ofthe tension of the spring 210 the described blade rotating or settingmechanism carries the blade from its intermediate position around tooriginal osition against the lever latch indicated in igure 12. 'lhelatch meanwhile has become locked by the descent of the rod 220 andforms a stop for the blade. 'lhe blade rota-ting mechanism, whichcomprises the parts between the shafts 186 and 197 inclusive, 1s incontinuous operation, therefore the power thereof must be neutralizedwhile the knife is against the latch. 'lhis end is e'ected by thefriction gear 191 rotating while the plates 192 are inactive. beingswung under the impulse of the actuating spring the pawl 206 whichnormally drives the ratchet 205 rides freely over the teeth of thelatter.

`Withou`t departing from the principle, of` my invention other m des ofapplying the principle may be employed instead of regards theconstruction herein disclosed, provided they means stated by.any of thefollowing claims, or the equivalent of such stated-means be employed. t.

change being made as rio.

1. The combination of a circular series of wheels, a

' engaging the needles, a head plate knitting needles adapted tofabricate a tubular casing, rolls adapted to intermittently deliverdepending lengths of absorbent ma terial centrally of the needles, andmeans actuating the needles for operating the rolls.

2. The combination of a needle cylinder, reeiprocatory knitting needlesslidably mounted on the cylinder, a rotary cam casing on the cylinderengaging the needles, a head plate on the casing provided with anopening, a stationary guide loose in the opening, delivery rolls in theguide, and means actuated the rolls.

3. The combination of a needle cylinder, knitting needles slidablymounted on the cylinder, a rotary cam casing on the cylinder on thecasing provided with an opening in alignment with the bore of thecylinder, asta-` tionary vertical guide loose in the opening, a pair ofdelivery rolls rotatably mounted in the guide, gears on the rolls, agear fast to the head, and a driving connection between the lastmentioned gear and the roll gears.

4. The combination of a needle cylinder, knitting needles on thecylinder, a cam casing rotatably mounted on the cylinder, a head plateonthe casing provided with an opening, a vertical stationary guide abovethe opening, a pair of delivery rolls journaled in the lower end oit theguide, drawing rolls journaled in the guide above the delivery rolls,and means actuated by the casing for operating the delivery rolls andthe drawing rolls.

5. The combination ,of a needle cylinder, knitting needles slidablymounted on the cylinder, a cam casing rotatably mounted on the cylinder,a head plate on the casing provided with an opening,- a stationaryvertical guide above the opening, a pair of delivery rollsjournaledinthe lower portion of the guide, a' pair of drawing rolls journaledin theguide above the delivery rolls, a reciprocable plate slidably mounted onthe guide, a lug on the slidable plate, a vibratory shaft journaled inthe lugs, a worm wheel on. one delivery roll, a worm wheel on onedrawing roll, worms on third worm on the shaft, a gear fast on thecasing, gear connections between y the gear and the shaft, a worm Wheelrotatably mounted on the slide engageable with the third worm, a curved-cam shoulderon the side of the last mentioned worm wheel, a

bracket on the guide,a stud on the bracket engaging the cam, Y theslidable plate and the bracket.

6. The combination of a needle cylinder, knitting needles on thecylinder, a cam cas# ing rotatably mounted on the cylinder, a head plateon the. casing provided with an opening, a vertical stationary guideabove the opening, a pair ot delivery rolls jourand a spring connectingby the casing for operating.

l the frame for knit-ting a the shaft engaging the worm the cylindermoeten naled in the lower end of the guide, a pair of drawing rollsjournaled in the guide above t-he delivery rolls., means actuated by thecasing for operating the delivery rolls and the drawing rolls. and meansJfor intermittently withdrawing the drawing rolls out of operation.

7. The combination` of a frame, a needle cylinder on the frame, knittingneedles on the cylinder, a rotary cam. casing embracing the cylinderandneedles, a head plate on the casing provided with an opening, means foractuating the casing, braces on the table, a vertical tubular guidesupported by the braces centrally of the opening, delivery rolls mountedin the lower portion of the guide, drawing rolls mounted in the guideabove the delivery rolls, means actuated by the casing for operating thedelivery rolls and the drawing rolls. and an inclined guide tast to theupper portion of: the. first guide.

8. The combination of a frame, means on the frame for'knitting a.tubular sheath, a vertical guide on the frame above the knitting means,rolls in the guide adapted to deliver lengths of absorbent material tothe sheath, and guide rolls in the frame beneath the knitting meansadapted to engage the sheath. A Y

9. The combination of a frame, means on tubular sheath, a. guide on theframe above the knitting means, rolls in the guide for deliveringintermittently lengths of absorbent material to the sheath, a pair ofguide rolls yieldable relatively to each other'mounted in theframe belowthe knitting means and in the path orthe sheath, and means actuating thedelivery rolls and the guide rolls.

l0. The combination of a frame, means on the frame for knitting atubular sheath, a guide. :for a sliver of absorbent material mounted onthe frame above the kntting means, rolls in the guide for intermittentlydelivering lengths of absorbent material to the sheath, uprights in thefra-me below the knitting means, a guide roll rotatably mount-- ed inthe supports, a fra-me pivotally mounted on the supports and dependingtherefrom, a second guide roll journaled in the frame, a springconnecting the frame with the uprights to hold the guide rolls incontact with each other, and means actuating the knitting means and thedelivery rolls for operating the first mentioned guide roll.

11. The combination of aframe, a needle cylinder on the frame,reciprocating lmitting needles slidably mounted on the frame for forminga depending tubular sheath, delivery rolls sufpported by *the frameabove the cylinder or intermittently delivering lengths of absorbentmaterial centrally of to the sheath, a. rotary blade supported by theframe below the cylinder movable across the path of the sheath, and

i' ated by ting needles slidably' jder to the sheath largements ,mentwith the enlargements,

j incassa means actuating the needlesl and delivery rolls for operatingthe blades.

12. rlihe combination of a frame, a needle cylinder in the frame,reciprocatory knitmounted on ther cylinder for forming a dependingtubular sheath, delivery rolls supported by the frame above the cylinderfor delivering successive lengths of absorbent material centrally of thecylinto form intermittent enof the sheath, a relatively stationary guideroll supported in the frame in the path of the sheath, a relativelyvibratory guide' roll supported in theframe co operating with the firstguide roll to embrace the sheath and vibrated by engagea blade pivotallymounted in the frame below the guide rolls adapted to swing across the[path of the sheath, a Spring for actuating the blade, a latch normallyin contact withthe blade forv locking the blade against movement, means'actuated by the vibratory roll for moving the `latch out of engagementwith the blade, means for reciprocating the nee# dles and the guiderolls, and means operthe needle actuating means for acl tuating thestationary guide roll.

13. 'llhe combination yofa trame, a needle `sheath forming enlargementsof the sheath,

a driving shaft in the frame for actuating the @am casing and thedelivery rolls, a guide roll 'supported in the frame in the path of thesheathlalso driven by the driving shaft, a vibratory guide roll toembrace the sheath and vibrated by the enlargements, a blade shaftmounted in the frame below the guide rolls,

a blade fast to the blade shaft, a spring engaging the frame, and thespring for swing! ling' the blade, a latch normally in contactv with theblade for locking the blade against movement, means actuated bythevibratory i'oll for moving .the latch out ofengagement with the blade topermit the b-lade to swing, and driving connections between the firstvguide roll and 'the blade shaft. Y

'In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature. v

HOWARD W. GREEN.

delivery rolls supported by the guide roll supported Vin the framecooperating with the first

